Is There an Afterlife?

Lord Thomson was one of the great newspapermen, at one time owning some 285 publications in England, Scotland, Canada and the United States. One day, he invited Norman Vincent Peale to a luncheon in the dining room of "The Times" of London.  The table was made up of distinguished editors and writers as well as prominent businessmen.

The conversation ranged over many themes: world affairs, politics ... British and American, the prospects for greater prosperity, etc..  Suddenly, in the midst of much good-natured banter, Thomson said, "Dr. Peale, I am an old man, and one of these days I'm going to die."  The room became silent.  "I want to know: is there an afterlife?"

"Lord Thomson," said Norman Vincent Peale, "I believe in the promises in the Bible.  But beyond the Biblical is the evidence of intelligence and common sense."

Then he told a parable about a prenatal baby tucked beneath his mother's loving heart.  "Suppose," he said, "someone came to this unborn baby and said, "You cannot stay here long.  In a few months you will be born, or, as you may think of it, die out of your present state.'

‘The baby might stubbornly say, ‘I don't want to leave here.   I'm warm, loved and happy.  I don't want to be what you call born, or what I call die, out of this place.'

"But he is born.  He does die out of his present life in the womb.  And what does he find?  He feels beneath him strong, loving arms.  He looks up into a beautiful face, tender with love, the face of his mother.  He is welcomed, cared for, and says, ‘How foolish I was.  This is a wonderful place to which I have come.'

"He goes on to enjoy the delights of childhood.  He grows into youth with its excitement and romance.  He marries, and knows the love of his children.

"The years pass, with the strength of manhood, the achievement of middle age; the joy and wonderment of life are his.  Then he becomes an old man and his step slows.  Someone says, ‘You are going to die, or, as we call it, be born out of this place into another.'

"And he might remonstrate: ‘But I don't want to die.  I have my loved ones.  I love this world ... the dawn and sunset, the moon, the starlight.  I like to feel the warmth of the fire on my face when cold weather comes, and to hear the crunch of snow beneath my feet on a winter's evening.  I don't want to leave this world.  I don't want to die.'

"But in natural course he does die.  What happens then?  Is God, the Creator, suddenly going to change His nature?  Can we not assume that he will once again feel loving arms beneath him, and once again look up into a strong, beautiful face, more lovely and loving, even than that first face he saw so long ago? Won't he soon be exclaiming, ‘This is so wonderful!  I want to remain here forever'?

"Does this not make sense?" Norman Vincent Peele concluded.  A deep silence hung over the table; several of the company appeared to be moved.

Thomson sighed.  "It does indeed make sense," he said.  "I will never forget that parable.  It has helped me answer a question that has haunted me for years."